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Last week during the 9th ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Panama City, Panama, aviation associations signed the Joint Declaration on Airport and Air Navigation Service Infrastructure. The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), came together with the Airports Council International (ACI), the Airports Council International – Latin America and Caribbean (ACI-LAC), the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA), and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to urge Latin American and Caribbean Governments to develop air transport infrastructure to adequately meet the needs of the industry, now and in the future.

Considering that:

Airports and air navigation services (“air transport infrastructure”) are essential infrastructures for the air transport industry;

The growth of air transport traffic depends on the availability of air transport infrastructure capacity to accommodate additional passengers, freight and aircraft;

Air transport infrastructure development is an ongoing process in order to evolve with new technologies, operational processes, and improved safety and security standards;

The tourism industry and business communities are heavily reliant on cost efficient and effective access to air transport;

The strategic positioning and economic competitiveness of a region is highly dependent on its accessibility to air transport;

Airports play a vital role in the social and economic development of the cities, regions and territories they serve, and airports serve as focal points of economic growth;

Safe and efficient air navigation services have a vital role to play in facilitating and ensuring effective air transport.

The five aviation associations call on the region’s governments to:

Facilitate the timely development of air transport infrastructure in order to accommodate the growth of the air transport industry and ensure the social and economic benefits that aviation brings;

Provide effective economic regulatory oversight to attract the much needed investment in air transport infrastructure whilst maintaining the competitive advantages of air transport;

Encourage the development of sustainable air transport infrastructure commensurate with the actual needs of the regions served and based on operational requirements of the airlines that use the infrastructure;

Apply the revenue generated from aviation for the development of air transport infrastructure, while maintaining compliance with ICAO policies;

Refrain from imposing taxes on aviation on a national or multi-national level that are not reinvested into aviation development.